Bodies ID'd as missing hikers from Minnesota

DENVER (AP) — The bodies of two people found on Colorado's Mount Evans are that of a father and son missing since they went for a hike in April, authorities confirmed Friday.

The bodies of Damian McManus, 51, and Evan McManus, 18, of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, were found Thursday by local volunteers, the Clear Creek County Sheriff's Office said.

They were last heard from April 2 after telling a friend they were going to scale a peak.

They were reported missing April 6, when the search began. It was spring break, but one marked at Mount Evans by sometimes-blinding winter weather that severely hampered search efforts.

The search was difficult because the men's exact route wasn't known. Their car was found at Echo Lake campground, at the foot of Mount Evans, but there are several trails nearby. Heavy snow also fell after they disappeared, obscuring any footprints.

Mount Evans is about 40 miles southwest of Denver. It soars to 14,250 feet. A road to the summit is closed each winter because of heavy snow.

A host of volunteer rescuers and mountaineers had searched the area repeatedly in recent months, always communicating their findings to each other, said Capt. Bruce Snelling of the sheriff's office. The volunteers include a group known as Team McManus, which includes a longtime friend of Damian McManus, who have been volunteering to search several days a week.

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On Thursday, someone from that group spotted what appeared to be skeletal remains in a draw about 2 miles from the campground. The remains could easily have been missed, given exposure to the elements and the rugged landscape, Snelling said.

Teams from Alpine Rescue and Rocky Mountain Rescue rushed to the area and soon found a second set of remains. The remains were removed and identified by the county coroner.

Snelling said he didn't know if the Minnesota men were sufficiently prepared for the hike.

Altitude may have been a factor. The trailhead's elevation is 10,600 feet; the highest point in Minnesota is Eagle Mountain, at 2,301 feet, in far northeastern part of the state.

How the men reached the isolated draw is a matter of speculation, Snelling cautioned.

It is possible they hiked on a trial from the Echo Lake campground to a small bridge crossing Vance Creek, then followed the creek to a draw that channels another creek that has no name. It's possible the men attempted to descend that draw but that conditions stopped them. Their hike easily could have been twice the length of the 2-mile straight distance to the campground below.

Four firefighters from Edina, St. Louis Park and Eden Park, Minnesota had also been searching the area since Tuesday.

Searchers initially worked in up to 3 feet of snow and the threat of avalanches initially prevented searchers from going into some areas.

More than 50 members of over a dozen Colorado search and rescue teams initially searched for the men — on foot, on snowmobiles and from the air — before returning for smaller scale searches later. The threat of avalanches prevented them from entering some areas at first. The local search team, the Alpine Rescue Team, has spent a combined 5,000 hours searching for the men, spokesman Bill Barwick said.

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